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TOP 101 Best novels
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1. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
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Despite its lascivious reputation, the pleasures of Lolita are as much intellectual as erogenous. It is a love story with the power to raise both chuckles and eyebrows. Humbert Humbert is a...

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Despite its lascivious reputation, the pleasures of Lolita are as much intellectual as erogenous. It is a love story with the power to raise both chuckles and eyebrows. Humbert Humbert is a European intellectual adrift in America, haunted by memories of a lost adolescent love. When he meets his ideal nymphet in the shape of 12-year-old Dolores Haze, he constructs an elaborate plot to seduce her, but first he must get rid of her mother. In spite of his diabolical wit, reality proves to be more slippery than Humbert's feverish fantasies and Lolita refuses to conform to his image of the perfect lover. Playfully perverse in form as well as content, riddled with puns and literary allusions, Nabokov's 1955 novel is a hymn to the Russian-born author's delight in his adopted language. Indeed, readers who want to probe all of its allusive nooks and crannies will need to consult the annotated edition. Lolita is undoubtedly, brazenly erotic, but the eroticism springs less from the "frail honey-hued shoulders ... the silky supple bare back" of little Lo than it does from the wantonly gorgeous prose that Humbert uses to recount his forbidden passion: "She was musical and apple-sweet ... Lola the bobby-soxer, devouring her immemorial fruit, singing through its juice ... and every movement she made, every shuffle and ripple, helped me to conceal and to improve the secret system of tactile correspondence between beast and beauty--between my gagged, bursting beast and the beauty of her dimpled body in its innocent cotton frock. " Much has been made of Lolita as metaphor, perhaps because the love affair at its heart is so troubling. Humbert represents the formal, educated Old World of Europe, while Lolita is America: ripening, beautiful, but not too bright and a little vulgar. Nabokov delights in exploring the intercourse between these cultures and the passages where Humbert describes the suburbs and strip malls and motels of post-war America are filled with both attraction and repulsion: "Those restaurants where the holy spirit of Huncan Dines had descended upon the cute paper napkins and cottage-cheese-crested salads." Yet however tempting the novel's symbolism may be, its chief delight--and power--lies in the character of Humbert Humbert. He, at least as he tells it, is no seedy skulker, no twisted destroyer of innocence. Instead, Nabokov's celebrated mouthpiece is erudite and witty, even at his most depraved. Humbert can't help it--linguistic jouissance is as important to him as the satisfaction of his arrested libido. --Simon Leake --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Despite its lascivious reputation, the pleasures of Lolita are as much intellectual as erogenous. It is a love story with the power to raise both chuckles and eyebrows. Humbert Humbert is a European intellectual adrift in America, haunted by memories of a lost adolescent love. When he meets his ideal nymphet in the shape of 12-year-old Dolores Haze, he constructs an elaborate plot to seduce her, but first he must get rid of her mother. In spite of his diabolical wit, reality proves to be more slippery than Humbert's feverish fantasies and Lolita refuses to conform to his image of the perfect lover. Playfully perverse in form as well as content, riddled with puns and literary allusions, Nabokov's 1955 novel is a hymn to the Russian-born author's delight in his adopted language. Indeed, readers who want to probe all of its allusive nooks and crannies will need to consult the annotated edition. Lolita is undoubtedly, brazenly erotic, but the eroticism springs less from the "frail honey-hued shoulders ... the silky supple bare back" of little Lo than it does from the wantonly gorgeous prose that Humbert uses to recount his forbidden passion: "She was musical and apple-sweet ... Lola the bobby-soxer, devouring her immemorial fruit, singing through its juice ... and every movement she made, every shuffle and ripple, helped me to conceal and to improve the secret system of tactile correspondence between beast and beauty--between my gagged, bursting beast and the beauty of her dimpled body in its innocent cotton frock. " Much has been made of Lolita as metaphor, perhaps because the love affair at its heart is so troubling. Humbert represents the formal, educated Old World of Europe, while Lolita is America: ripening, beautiful, but not too bright and a little vulgar. Nabokov delights in exploring the intercourse between these cultures and the passages where Humbert describes the suburbs and strip malls and motels of post-war America are filled with both attraction and repulsion: "Those restaurants where the holy spirit of Huncan Dines had descended upon the cute paper napkins and cottage-cheese-crested salads." Yet however tempting the novel's symbolism may be, its chief delight--and power--lies in the character of Humbert Humbert. He, at least as he tells it, is no seedy skulker, no twisted destroyer of innocence. Instead, Nabokov's celebrated mouthpiece is erudite and witty, even at his most depraved. Humbert can't help it--linguistic jouissance is as important to him as the satisfaction of his arrested libido. --Simon Leake --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

2. 1984 - George Orwell
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3. To the lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
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4. Ulysses - James Joyce
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Written over a seven-year period, from 1914 to 1921, this book has survived bowdlerization, legal action and controversy. The novel deals with the events of one day in Dublin, 16th June...

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Written over a seven-year period, from 1914 to 1921, this book has survived bowdlerization, legal action and controversy. The novel deals with the events of one day in Dublin, 16th June 1904, now known as "Bloomsday". The principal characters are Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom and his wife Molly. Ulysses has been labelled dirty, blasphemous and unreadable. In a famous 1933 court decision, Judge John M. Woolsey declared it an emetic book--although he found it not quite obscene enough to disallow its importation into the United States--and Virginia Woolf was moved to decry James Joyce's "cloacal obsession". None of these descriptions, however, do the slightest justice to the novel. To this day it remains the modernist masterpiece, in which the author takes both Celtic lyricism and vulgarity to splendid extremes. It is funny, sorrowful, and even (in its own way) suspenseful. And despite the exegetical industry that has sprung up in the last 75 years, Ulysses is also a compulsively readable book.
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Written over a seven-year period, from 1914 to 1921, this book has survived bowdlerization, legal action and controversy. The novel deals with the events of one day in Dublin, 16th June 1904, now known as "Bloomsday". The principal characters are Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom and his wife Molly. Ulysses has been labelled dirty, blasphemous and unreadable. In a famous 1933 court decision, Judge John M. Woolsey declared it an emetic book--although he found it not quite obscene enough to disallow its importation into the United States--and Virginia Woolf was moved to decry James Joyce's "cloacal obsession". None of these descriptions, however, do the slightest justice to the novel. To this day it remains the modernist masterpiece, in which the author takes both Celtic lyricism and vulgarity to splendid extremes. It is funny, sorrowful, and even (in its own way) suspenseful. And despite the exegetical industry that has sprung up in the last 75 years, Ulysses is also a compulsively readable book.

5. " ' ertds "'( ùa ô sé
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5. The great Gatsby - Francis Scott Fitzgerald
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Jay Gatsby is the man who has everything. But one thing will always be out of his reach ... Everybody who is anybody is seen at his glittering parties. Day and night his Long Island mansion...

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Jay Gatsby is the man who has everything. But one thing will always be out of his reach ... Everybody who is anybody is seen at his glittering parties. Day and night his Long Island mansion buzzes with bright young things drinking, dancing and debating his mysterious character. For Gatsby - young, handsome, fabulously rich - always seems alone in the crowd, watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. Beneath the shimmering surface of his life he is hiding a secret: a silent longing that can never be fulfilled. And soon this destructive obsession will force his world to unravel.
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Jay Gatsby is the man who has everything. But one thing will always be out of his reach ... Everybody who is anybody is seen at his glittering parties. Day and night his Long Island mansion buzzes with bright young things drinking, dancing and debating his mysterious character. For Gatsby - young, handsome, fabulously rich - always seems alone in the crowd, watching and waiting, though no one knows what for. Beneath the shimmering surface of his life he is hiding a secret: a silent longing that can never be fulfilled. And soon this destructive obsession will force his world to unravel.

7. A portrait of the artist as a young man - James Joyce
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Rankmill Team :
"A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" represents the transitional stage between the realism of Joyce's "Dubliners" and the symbolism of "Ulysses", and is essential to the understanding...

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"A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" represents the transitional stage between the realism of Joyce's "Dubliners" and the symbolism of "Ulysses", and is essential to the understanding of the later work. This novel is a highly autobiographical account of the adolescence of Stephen Dedalus, who reappears in "Ulysses", and who comes to realize that before he can become a true artist, he must rid himself of the stultifying effects of the religion, politics and essential bigotry of his background in late 19th century Ireland.
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"A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" represents the transitional stage between the realism of Joyce's "Dubliners" and the symbolism of "Ulysses", and is essential to the understanding of the later work. This novel is a highly autobiographical account of the adolescence of Stephen Dedalus, who reappears in "Ulysses", and who comes to realize that before he can become a true artist, he must rid himself of the stultifying effects of the religion, politics and essential bigotry of his background in late 19th century Ireland.

8. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
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Far in the future, the World Controllers have created the ideal society. Through clever use of genetic engineering, brainwashing and recreational sex and drugs all its members are happy...

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Far in the future, the World Controllers have created the ideal society. Through clever use of genetic engineering, brainwashing and recreational sex and drugs all its members are happy consumers. Bernard Marx seems alone harbouring an ill-defined longing to break free. A visit to one of the few remaining Savage Reservations where the old, imperfect life still continues, may be the cure for his distress...
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Far in the future, the World Controllers have created the ideal society. Through clever use of genetic engineering, brainwashing and recreational sex and drugs all its members are happy consumers. Bernard Marx seems alone harbouring an ill-defined longing to break free. A visit to one of the few remaining Savage Reservations where the old, imperfect life still continues, may be the cure for his distress...

9. The sound and the Fury - William Faulkner
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Rankmill Team :
Ever since the first furore was created on its publication in 1929, "The Sound and the Fury" has been considered one of the key novels of this century. Depicting the gradual disintegration...

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Ever since the first furore was created on its publication in 1929, "The Sound and the Fury" has been considered one of the key novels of this century. Depicting the gradual disintegration of the Compson family through four fractured narratives, "The Sound and the Fury" explores intense, passionate family relationships where there is no love, only self-centredness. At its heart this is a novel about lovelessness - 'only an idiot has no grief; only a fool would forget it. What else is there in this world sharp enough to stick to your guts?'
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Ever since the first furore was created on its publication in 1929, "The Sound and the Fury" has been considered one of the key novels of this century. Depicting the gradual disintegration of the Compson family through four fractured narratives, "The Sound and the Fury" explores intense, passionate family relationships where there is no love, only self-centredness. At its heart this is a novel about lovelessness - 'only an idiot has no grief; only a fool would forget it. What else is there in this world sharp enough to stick to your guts?'

10. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
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Rankmill Team :
The greatest satirical work in the English language since EREHWON

The greatest satirical work in the English language since EREHWON
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The greatest satirical work in the English language since EREHWON

11. Darkness at noon - Arthur Koestler
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N. S. Rubashov, an old guard Communist, falls victim to an unnamed government; with outstanding psychological insight, Koestler traces his story through arrest, imprisonment and trail in a...

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N. S. Rubashov, an old guard Communist, falls victim to an unnamed government; with outstanding psychological insight, Koestler traces his story through arrest, imprisonment and trail in a classic novel which, when first published, famously drew attention to the nature of Stalin's regime.
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N. S. Rubashov, an old guard Communist, falls victim to an unnamed government; with outstanding psychological insight, Koestler traces his story through arrest, imprisonment and trail in a classic novel which, when first published, famously drew attention to the nature of Stalin's regime.

12. Sons and lovers - D.H. Lawrence
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Rankmill Team :
his semi-autobiographical novel explores the emotional conflicts through the protagonist, Paul Morel, and the suffocating relationships with a demanding mother and two very different...

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his semi-autobiographical novel explores the emotional conflicts through the protagonist, Paul Morel, and the suffocating relationships with a demanding mother and two very different lovers. It is a pre-Freudian exploration of love and possessiveness.
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his semi-autobiographical novel explores the emotional conflicts through the protagonist, Paul Morel, and the suffocating relationships with a demanding mother and two very different lovers. It is a pre-Freudian exploration of love and possessiveness.

13. The grapes of wrath - John Steinbeck
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Rankmill Team :
Shocking and controversial when it was first published in 1939, Steinbeck's Pulitzer prize-winning epic remains his undisputed masterpiece. Set against the background of dust bowl Oklahoma...

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Shocking and controversial when it was first published in 1939, Steinbeck's Pulitzer prize-winning epic remains his undisputed masterpiece. Set against the background of dust bowl Oklahoma and Californian migrant life, it tells of the Joad family, who, like thousands of others, are forced to travel West in search of the promised land. Their story is one of false hopes, thwarted desires and broken dreams, yet out of their suffering Steinbeck created a drama that is intensely human, yet majestic in its scale and moral vision; an eloquent tribute to the endurance and dignity of the human spirit.
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Shocking and controversial when it was first published in 1939, Steinbeck's Pulitzer prize-winning epic remains his undisputed masterpiece. Set against the background of dust bowl Oklahoma and Californian migrant life, it tells of the Joad family, who, like thousands of others, are forced to travel West in search of the promised land. Their story is one of false hopes, thwarted desires and broken dreams, yet out of their suffering Steinbeck created a drama that is intensely human, yet majestic in its scale and moral vision; an eloquent tribute to the endurance and dignity of the human spirit.

14. Under the Volcano - Malcom Lowry
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15. The way of all flesh - Samuel Butler
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16. I, Claudius - Robert Graves
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17. An american tragedy - Theodore Dreiser
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18. The heart is a lonely hunter - Carson Mc Cullers
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19. Slaughterhouse-five - Kurt Vonnegut
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20. Invisible man - Ralph Ellison
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21. Native son - Richard Wright
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22. Henderson, the rain king - Saul Bellow
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23. Appointment in Samara - John O'Hara
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24. U.S.A. (trilogy) - John Dos Passos
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25. Winesburg, Ohio - Sharwood Anderson
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26. A passage to India - E.M. Forster
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27. The wings of the dove - Henry James
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28. The Ambassadors - Henry James
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29. Tender is the night - F.S. Fitzgerald
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30. The studs Lonigan trilogy - James T. Farrell
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31. The good soldier - Ford Madox Ford
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32. Animal Farm - George Orwell
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33. The golden bowl - Henry James
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34. Sister Carrie - Theodore Dreiser
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35. A handful of dust - Evelyn Waugh
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36. As I lay dying - William Faulkner
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37. All the kings men - Robert Penn Warren
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38. The bridge of San Luis Rey - Thornton Wilder
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39. Howards End - E.M. Forster
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40. Go tell it in the mountain - James Baldwin
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41. The heart of the matter - Graham Green
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42. Lord of the flies - William Golding
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43. Deliverance - James dickey
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44. A clockwork orange - Anthony Burgess
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45. A dance to the music of time - Anthony Powell
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46. Point counter point - Aldous Huxley
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47. The sun also rises - Ernest Hemingway
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48. The secret agent - Joseph Conrad
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49. Nostromo - Joseph Conrad
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50. The rainbow - D.H. Lawrence
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51. Mainstreet - Sinclair Lewis
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52. Women in love - D.H. Lawrence
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53. Tropic of cancer - Henry Miller
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54. The naked and the dead - Norman Mailer
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55. Portnoy's complaint - Philip Roth
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56. Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov
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57. Light in august - William Faulkner
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58. On the road - Jack Kerouac
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59. The Maltese falcon - Dashiell Hammett
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60. Parade's End - Ford Madox Ford
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61. The Age of innocence - Edit Wharton
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62. Zuleika Dobson - Max Beerbohm
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63. The moviegoer - Walker Percy
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64. A bend in the river - V.S. Naipaul
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65. Death comes from the Archbishop - Willa Cather
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66. From here to eternity - James Jones
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67. The wapshot chronicles - John Cheever
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68. The catcher in the rye - J.D. Salinger
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69. Of human bondage - W. Somerset Maugham
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70. Loving - Henry Green
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71. Heart of darkness - Joseph Conrad
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72. The house of mirth - Edith Wharton
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73. The Alexandria quartet - Lawrence Durell
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74. A high wind in Jamaica - Richard Hughes
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75. A house for Mr Biswas - V.S. Naipaul
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76. The day of the locust - Nathanael West
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77. A farewell to arms - Ernest Hemingway
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78. Scoop - Evelyn Waugh
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79. The prime of miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
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80. Finnegans Wake - James Joyce
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81. Kim - Rudyard Kipling
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82. A room with a view - E.M. Forster
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83. Brideshead revisited - Evelyn Waugh
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84. The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow
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85. Angle of repose - Wallace Stegner
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86. The death of the heart - Elizabeth Bowen
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87. Lord Jim - Joseph Conrad
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88. Ragtime - E. L. Doctorow
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89. The old wives' tale - Arnold Bennett
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90. The call of the wild - Jack London
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91. Midnight's children - Salman Rushdie
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92. Tobacco road - Erskine Caldwell
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93. Ironweed - William Kennedy
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94. The Magus - John Fowles
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95. Wild Sargasso sea - Jean Rhys
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96. Under the net - Iris Murdoch
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97. Sophie's choice - William Styron
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98. The sheltering sky - Paul Bowles
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99. The postman always rings twice - James M. Mc Cain
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100. The ginger man - J. P. Donleavy
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101. The magnificent Ambersons - Booth Tarkington
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Thomas Levy
#1 1984 - George Orwell
Rankmill Team
#1 Ulysses - James Joyce
Written over a seven-year period, from 1914 to 1921, this book has survived...


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